I ran a 5k race on Sunday. It was a good wakeup call/reality check that I needed to let me know exactly where I am/am not at this point in my fitness and training. I finished way back in the pack with a time of 22:26 which was a considerable improvement from my last attempt at this distance where I only managed 24:00.
A very short race story: you see my memory fades with age...1st mile was good but downhill and with the wind. However, unlike most of my races where I can find a good pace and not get passed there were runners, dogs, kids streaming past. In the 2nd mile I felt some slowing but was feeling decent and in a nice rhythm, even passing a few runners until the turn back for home around the 3k point. We made a turn up a little hill and into the strong wind which just killed me and I totally blew up! Breathing, legs and HR went all crazy as the pace dropped off and I struggled from here on in for the last 2k. A brutal uphill finish over the last 500m totally did me in as I was passed by more dogs and kids right to the finish. See the little kid in the picture about to nip me at the line! Sheesh! My splits were horrible and also tell the story with 6:44, 7:11 and 8:06 (ouch)!
Still, it was a good attempt at a race and I'm happy with the result considering how the winter has gone for me with my lack of energy problem (now resolved). With my legs finally getting under me I can't be too disappointed because a more conservative even paced strategy could easily have put me under 22 minutes. Looking at McMillan running calculator and others it at least puts me in the 'decent' marathon range of around 3:35 to 3:45. And besides, I've been training for a marathon and not a 5k so we can play on the safe side, slow down, take extra pictures and still run 'well'.
Now if I can just get through this last week of work....
Have a nice week!
6 comments:
I like that first mile split! Great job on the race. Corner, turn into the wind and up a hill... oh we've done that a few times.
Just blame the hill for the splits! Oh, and start out easily in Big Sur.
I thought you'd have got the pacing thing right at this stage in your running career - that third mile split shows a lot of pain. Still a great result condsidering your recent form and your ,ahem, pacing strategy.
C'mon now - that was the second place dog, so he had to be fast! Plus, I'm pretty sure the kid pulled a Rosie Ruiz.
Sounds like a tough little race! It was good to go out hard - that way you get maximum pain ;) Yes, I'd say sub-22 if 'sensible' and sub-3:40 for Big Sur.
I always tell people I'm a long distant type runner-- got to get the bugs out of my legs-- and don't get going until about mile 4.
My dogs run circle around me in training-- not sure how fast they could actually run. Don't see being passed by a dog as a bad indicator. Kids? Little boys? That's sometimes okay. Little girls? AAAAAAAA No! try your hardest not to get little chiced at the wire-- because that hurts.
Nice run.
Learn from it.
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